Origin and nature of the rapid late Tertiary filling of the Levant Basin

Research Article| April 01, 2011 Origin and nature of the rapid late Tertiary filling of the Levant Basin J. Steinberg; J. Steinberg 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel2Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Z. Gvirtzman; Z. Gvirtzman 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Y. Folkman; Y. Folkman 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Z. Garfunkel Z. Garfunkel 2Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information J. Steinberg 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel2Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Z. Gvirtzman 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Y. Folkman 1Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 95501, Israel Z. Garfunkel 2Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 28 Jul 2010 Revision Received: 06 Nov 2010 Accepted: 10 Nov 2010 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2011 Geological Society of America Geology (2011) 39 (4): 355–358. https://doi.org/10.1130/G31615.1 Article history Received: 28 Jul 2010 Revision Received: 06 Nov 2010 Accepted: 10 Nov 2010 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation J. Steinberg, Z. Gvirtzman, Y. Folkman, Z. Garfunkel; Origin and nature of the rapid late Tertiary filling of the Levant Basin. Geology 2011;; 39 (4): 355–358. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G31615.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The recent huge gas discovery in Early Miocene siliciclastics, offshore Israel, highlighted a new world-class gas province, and has subsequently sparked great interest in the Oligocene–Miocene deep-water sediments of the Levant Basin. Based on a dense network of seismic data, we present two fundamental observations. First, more than half of its sedimentary column accumulated within a mere ∼15% of the basin's life span, i.e. an ∼6-km-thick section accumulated within 37 m.y. (post–Middle Eocene). Second, this young section first accumulated in the deep basin and only then did large amounts of sediments amass along the eastern Levant continental margin. These fundamental observations allude to two feasible source-to-sink scenarios: (1) the thick late Tertiary section is composed of large amounts of terrigenous material that originated in Arabia and was transported via the Israeli margin, and (2) the terrigenous material originated in Africa and was transported northward via the region that eventually evolved into the Nile River cone. Our data emphasize the difficulties of the first scenario and suggest that Africa was the dominant sediment source. This suggestion requires the submarine transport of sediments from offshore North Africa to have been northeastward, and thus raises new questions regarding ocean circulation at a time in which the neo-Tethys was closing and the marine connection to the Mesopotamian Basin gradually ceased. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.